Punch
by fleeting fancy
Summary: Sucky name but this is a one-shot inspired by the advent challenge over at lj. Just a little drabble with a little insight and introspection. Cohens plus one. Set early season one.


**A/N-I wrote this during the advent challenge over at livejournal and never posted it. It was inspired by the challenge word "punch" and it's not really finished but I guess it's finished enough to stand as it is and I thought I'd go ahead and post it. I'm still working on the next update for "A Beautiful Noise" but I haven't had a lot of spare time with the holidays. At least, not enough time to do make any serious dents in getting the chapter finished. I did start yet another fic whilst stranded at the airport waiting for a flight to come in. I might tidy that up and post it, too. I hadn't brought my flash drive that has "A Beautiful Noise" on it or I would have worked on that while I was waiting. At any rate, hopefully, in the next couple of days I can get that update for "A Beautiful Noise" done and posted. Until then, there's this:**

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*****

He slowly realizes the punch he had been drinking all night was spiked. He hadn't smelled liquor in it when he ladled out his first cup. He didn't taste any in it either when he tentatively sipped it but he was definitely _feeling _it.

"Hey, kid", Sandy says as he approaches.

Ryan's eyes widen. Uh oh. "Hey, Ssandy", he says as clearly as possible. Not good enough, judging from Sandy's raised eyebrow. Wow, he hadn't realized how hypnotic Sandy's eyebrows were.

"Ryan? "

"Huh?"

"I asked you a question", Sandy says. A hint of amusement in his voice.

"Oh"

Sandy extends his hand.

Ryan looks down at the cup and back at Sandy's eyebrows. "Oh!", he says, then hastily shoves the cup into his hand, accidentally spilling some on him. His own eyebrows raise in alarm but instead of uttering an apology, like he'd normally do, an "oopsss" and a giggle erupts. A giggle? Yep, definitely drunk.

"Sandy?", a worried Kirsten sidles up.

"Hi, Kirss'nn", Ryan happily greets.

Kirsten's mouth quirks up. "Hi, Ryan". Sandy hands her the cup of punch and she smells it. "It doesn't smell like anything's in it", she says.

"That's what I said!", Ryan says loudly. "I din't think there wsss an'thing in it. I swwear, Sandy", he says glassy eyed.

Sandy pats Ryan's arm. "It's ok, kid. I believe you".

"We'd better get him home. Where's Seth?", she asks, casting an eye around the room. Spotting him with a cup in his hand, she waves him over.

"Hey, guys!!", Seth giggles as he stumbles over to them.

Oh, brother.

"Looks like he had a few cups, too", Sandy says with a laugh. The adults were drinking from the bar. The punch was for the kids. They hadn't seen anyone spike it but they should have known someone would. Sandy had even tested a cup himself. Whatever was in it, blended with the punch really well.

"We'd better tell someone about the punch before we go", Kirsten says as she steadies Seth.

"Yeah, you totally sshould. This punch isss ssso awesomme", Seth slurs. "You should get the reth....the reth....find out howw to mmake it".

Ryan erupts into laughter, "Dude....you are ssssooooo drunk".

Seth starts giggling, "ssshhhhh. The 'rents are right...*hiccup*...right hhere", he says as he leans toward Ryan, only the movement is too fast and he misjudges the distance and his head whacks into Ryan's.

Two "ow"s ring out before Sandy informs Seth that they already know and starts to herd the boys toward the door. Kirsten removes the punch from Seth's hand and relays to the host of the party that the punch is spiked before returning to give Sandy a hand getting them into the car.

Both boys in the back seat, Sandy reaches to buckle Ryan's belt. Ryan looks up and says gratefully, "thhnks Sandy. I don' thnk I coulda done tha'.There's two of 'em", he says with another giggle.

"Don't mention it, kid", he says with a smile as he closes the door and climbs into the driver's seat.

Kirsten fights with Seth over his seat-belt but finally manages to get him buckled in. Exasperated, she climbs in the front seat and looks over at Sandy and rolls her eyes.

He chuckles. The joy of teenage sons.

The drive home is relatively uneventful save for Seth thinking he was going to "blow chunks". Sandy pulls over but it's a false alarm.

They pull in the drive and Kirsten takes Seth while Sandy leads Ryan to the pool house.

"You sure you don't want to sleep inside?", Sandy asks, not really liking the idea of Ryan being out there alone. What if he gets sick or gets up in the night and wanders out on the patio and hurts himself?

Ryan shakes his head vigorously, which causes him to stumble.

Sandy steadies him, "Careful".

"You're really nice when you're drunk", Ryan says with a dopey smile, appreciating Sandy not letting him fall.

"Glad you think so, Ryan, but I'm not the one that's drunk. You are", he says with a laugh.

"Oh yeah!...thnn, I'm nice when I'm drnk", he says with a smile but it soon fades. "I wond'r why I'm not mean like my mom or.....", he trails off with a scowl. He looks up at Sandy and sadly says, "she drinks 'lot".

Sandy sobers. "I'm sorry, Ryan", he says as he remembers a drunk Dawn from Casino night, snapping at Ryan to help her up and then turning apologetic and needy. He pulls back the blanket and settles Ryan on the bed.

"S'okay", Ryan says with a shrug. "I don't wan' be like her", he confides as Sandy takes off his shoes and helps him off with his jacket and shirt, then he slides under the covers.

Sandy tucks him in. "You won't be", he assures. Not if he can help it.

He turns off the light and prepares to leave when Ryan's soft voice stops him.

"She lef' me"

He turns back and looks down at Ryan. "I'm sorry about that, kid", he says as he sits on the edge of the bed. "I really am but you're here now. You're stuck with us".

Ryan's eyes meet his and he gives a small smile. "I could do worse", he says sleepily and then closes his eyes.

Sandy brushes the hair out of his eyes and watches as his breathing levels out. He goes to the house to see how Kirsten is faring with Seth. She enters the kitchen moments after he does.

"After a small battle with his bedding, Seth's all tucked in with Captain Oats", Kirsten informs him with a chuckle. "How is he?", she inquires of Ryan, looking out toward the pool house. "Maybe we should move him in here".

"I thought about that myself but....he's fine. He's settled. I think I'll sleep out there, though. Just in case", he decides, turning back to face the pool house.

Kirsten smiles as she steps up and wraps her arms around him from behind. "I don't think I've seen him smile so much. He seemed so happy to see me", she says. "It was nice seeing him so unguarded, even if it was due to alcohol", she says, warmed at the memory of his beaming face when she approached. "How should we handle this? I don't think they knew the punch was spiked when they first started drinking it but they had to know at some point. We really can't let them think it's ok to get sloshed."

"A loud lecture while they have a hangover might be enough", he chuckles briefly before his thoughts drift back to Kirsten's comment about Ryan being so unguarded.

"Sandy?", Kirsten questions as she notices the darkening of his features. "What is it?"

He turns in her arms and returns the embrace. "He admitted some things to me in his drunken fog." He shakes his head.

"What? What did he say that's got you upset"

"I'm not upset. I'm....sad. For him. He didn't say anything we haven't already figured out. That Dawn drank a lot. That she got mean. He hinted at others getting mean when they drink. He said he didn't want to be like her....and he finally acknowledged his mother leaving him. He just sounded so.....young. That one sentence....'she left me'....it just...broke my heart."

"He is young", Kirsten says as she stares out at the glass structure and is taken back to the day Dawn left, and the night before that. They'd watched as Ryan took over the care of his mother, leading her into the pool house, sitting her on the bed and pulling off her shoes. He moved around the room gathering things she might need during the night. A bottle of water and some aspirin. He pulled the trash can up to the bed in case she got sick. He carefully laid her back and covered her with the blanket murmuring to her in response to something she'd said. It was clear that he was an old hand at the routine. It saddened her but even so, at the time, she thought his place was with her. She breathes in deeply and closes her eyes. "god, what was I thinking, inviting Dawn to Casino night?"

"You were buying us more time with Ryan", Sandy replies. "You were worried. We all were after what we'd heard at dinner that night. You were just as reluctant to let him go with her as Seth and I were."

Kirsten squeezes him tighter. When she'd caught Dawn trying to slip out the morning after her drunken spectacle she couldn't believe she was abandoning him again. Leaving Ryan at her doorstep. Then Ryan stepped out. The confusion then realization playing across his face and finally the sad resignation in his wave. Once she was gone he'd looked so lost. So scared. Looking into his face, she knew he was there to stay. She couldn't turn him away when his mother had just left him. Again. And there was no way that Sandy or Seth were going to let him go. Looking back, she knew there was truth in Sandy's words. Even if she hadn't wanted to admit it to herself, she had been reluctant to let him go with her. Something compelled her to find an excuse to keep them from leaving and inviting them to stay for Casino night. She'd told herself it was for Seth. For Sandy, but whatever the reason, she was glad for it. The thought of Ryan being with Dawn, God knows where or who with, didn't sit well. "You're right", she said with a smile as she leans into him. "He belongs here. With us."

Sandy smiles and closes his eyes. It took her a little longer to come around but he knew she would.


End file.
